11 entries categorized "Technology"

December 13, 2012

With relatively few residents scattered across a large area, Columbia County denizens have struggled for years to obtain even basic internet connectivity. Just retrieving email and watching YouTube, let alone streaming an HD movie at a decent resolution, can be deeply frustrating—and also costly.

The population density in Columbia is just 99 people per square mile. As you head southward, that number climbs steadily, with 371 per square mile in Dutchess, 431 in Putnam, and 2,193 in Westchester. This low density means that many fall into the dreaded “last mile” category, in which houses at the far end of a road or more than three miles from a telephone switching stationcan get neither cable modems nor DSL service.

But that is finally changing, though in baby steps that leave this area far behind metropolitan regions.

For the layperson, 3 Mbps is the bare minimum necessary to stream a movie in any decent resolution, without it looking all blurry and blocky—pixillated, designers would say. If you have a big TV or a projector, or have multiple people online in your household (whether on a smartphone, a tablet, a Roku, or just surfing the web) you probably need twice that just to cover normal usage. A power user or large household may want 10-15 Mbps or better.

Several new options have emerged of late for rural broadband customers that bring parts of the County into that territory, at least on paper:

(1) FAIRPOINT. Though it’s not yet reflected on their website, Fairpoint Communications says it has bumped up its top download speeds for both business and residential accounts from 3 Mbps (megabytes per second) to 15 Mbps. A web designer in Chatham reports that she recently upgraded her business account with Fairpoint, and is now getting just over 15 Mbps. The price structure, according to a rep I spoke with, remains the same as before, but with far higher download speeds. Fairpoint services mainly customers in central, northern and eastern parts of the County.

(2) HUGHESNET. For those out of range of cable and DSL, satellite internet provider HughesNet is now advertising its Gen4 service, promising download speeds comparable to Fairpoint’s, up to 15 Mbps. However, since this is delivered via satellite, service can be intermittent. But far more troubling than weather outages is HughesNet’s continued insistence on a “cap” on how much bandwidth customers use to prevent overloading their satellites.

Such caps can greatly diminish the value of higher speeds. HughesNet’s most expensive “power” plan costs $99 per month, and promises a monthly total of 40 GB (gigabytes) of data. If you exceed that limit, your download speeds will be slowed to a crawl, unless you buy expensive “restore tokens.”

Worse, the fine print shows that the 40 GB number is misleading, as half of that allowance can only be used between 2 am and 8 am. So unless you spend most of your time on the internet during the wee hours of the night or early morning, you are really only getting 20 GB. If 20 GB still sounds like a lot, consider that may mean at most 4-8 hours of video streaming at a high resolution per month, setting aside some bandwidth for your other internet usage.

Unless you are a weekender who would only be using the web for a small portion of each month, or someone who only uses the internet for basic news and email, that cap makes the new 15 Mbps Hughes offering pretty useless; it just means you’re going to burn through your small allowance that much more quickly.

I was a HughesNet satellite customer for more than 5 years, and found the service maddening. The data caps (then daily, instead of monthly) often made it difficult to do more than rudimentary stuff online. And their customer service was truly atrocious: ignorance, incompetence and outright dishonesty characterized the typical dealings with Hughes reps. Unless there has been some major change in the culture of this company, I would exercise extreme caution before signing up for these Gen4 services, as promising as they initially sound.

NOTE: The satellite provider WildBlue is basically a repackaging of the same services as Hughes, just with slightly different pricing and bandwidth offerings. The same caveats apply, though I don’t have the same direct (bad) experience with their customer service.

Various friends in places like Claverack report being satisfied with these services, with the caveat that they are not much into internet video. And currently, there are few places in the County were you can get better than 3G coverage. Depending on the model and plan purchased, you may be able to carry that service around with you if you commute or travel a lot, which is an added bonus.

However, as with satellite internet providers, the devil is in the details. These services can be pricey, and typically have strict bandwidth limits. The highest-level Verizon plan, for example, costs $110 per month with a limit of 20GB of usage. After that, you have to start buying gigabytes of data à la carte at exorbitant rates, or wait until your next billing cycle rolls around. Cell-based services seem to be advancing more rapidly than cable and DSL due to the huge number of people with smartphones; so in a couple of years, the idea of being tethered to a line for internet may seem ridiculous. For now, however, this option requires many compromises.

(4) GTEL. Gtel based in Germantown promises DSL speeds up to 10 Mbps for qualifying business customers, but with lots of asterisks and caveats attached.

(5) MHCABLE. Lastly, Mid-Hudson Cable now claims it can offer business customers speeds as high as a truly whopping 50 Mbps, while their advertised residential cable modem plan top out at an unremarkable 5 Mbps. However, Mid-Hudson still does not reach many parts of the County, primarily servicing the 12534 zip code on this side of the river.

This site was first to report back in 2011 the head-scratching news that MHCable had sent back a much-hyped multimillion-dollar Federal grant to help provide broadband services to “last mile” customers in rural areas of Columbia County.

This meant that customers in less-accessible areas were quoted up-front prices of $1,000-$3,000 for the privilege of then paying MHC for monthly service. Among the reasons cited by Mid-Hudson president James Reynolds for sending back the money for which his company had applied was the belated recognition that it would require MHC to pay its workers prevailing wage on any Federally-funded work.

Others complain that MHC services do not necessarily deliver promised speeds. Mark Orton of Hudson, for example, ran extensive speed tests back when he was still an MHC customer, eventually switching to DSL in order to gain more stable, reliable service that could handle his videoconferencing and other needs.

Considering that Columbia County is now home to many people used to far better internet connectivity, and also an unusual number of so-called telecommuters and self-employed people who work at home, one would think that local leadership would make internet access more of a priority. The County will propose to spend $1 million primarily to benefit a single company operating the Ghent airport, even as many residents can’t get a decent signal through their Apple Airport.

And while it seems that rural broadband conferences are held on a regular basis (and with a lot of press hoopla for any politicians who pay lip service to the idea), progress remains slow. Greene County political blogger Thomas Pletcher called the last such symposium there “a sham.”

In many towns in the area, cable and internet contracts are renewed with little or know actual negotiation or haggling, with the widespread perception in certain municipalities that the well-connected management of such companies have more clout than local taxpayers.

UPDATE: Several people have emailed with questions about NYAir, another relative newcomer here (though basically an arm of Mid-Hudson Cable). I wrote about NYAir back in March at this link. This is not really a broadband service at this point, as you can’t reliable get more than 2 Mbps down, and speeds tend to hover closer to 1 Mbps.

One of their techs told me last summer that the company was planning to upgrade from a 900MHz broadcaster to a faster WiMax system sometime “in the next year,” which could mean closer to true broadband speeds, depending on what they install and how far one is from a tower. Note that NYAir is “backhauling” from these towers (such as the one on Blue Hill in Livingston) to MHCable, which seems to result in major slowdowns in service during primetime hours as thousands of their cable and internet customers tune in.

March 30, 2012

I had NYAir out this morning to see if they could solve my longstanding internet headaches. I found out about them at random, via a billboard on Route 9H, en route to getting my car serviced at Kinderhook Toyota. Normally I pay no attention to such roadside blandishments, but being starved for web access here at the last stop on the covered wagon trail to Taghaknic, I’m ready to explore just about any option.

Over the past few years I’ve looked into almost every conceivable internet service possibility—from MHcable, which wanted nearly $2,000 for the privilege of being hooked up, after they returned a huge rural broadband grant—to wireless hotspots to satellite. During that process I’ve dealt with all kinds of horribly unhelpful and ill-informed customer disservice reps at HughesNet and elsewhere, so I was delighted to get someone on the phone right away at NYAir, and an appointment within 48 hours.

“If our guy verifies that you have a line-of-sight to our tower,” I was told, “he can install it on the spot.”

NYAir is a WISP, which stands for Wireless Internet Service Provider. That means they connect a broadcaster on a tower to a high-speed connection, which can be picked up by people with antennas who have a line-of-sight to the tower. After testing the signal out extensively, it was determined that I do have a workable north-westward sightline toward one of their towers. After much debate (by me) about where to mount the antenna, I decided to give it a whirl.

The key advantage here, in comparison with satellite internet providers like HughesNet and WildBlue, or Mi-Fi hotspots such as those offered by Verizon and AT&T, is the absence of any usage limitations. For me, that’s huge. Satellite services limit your daily bandwidth, and 3G networks limit your monthly capacity, both cutting you off entirely or slowing your connection to a crawl once you hit the limit. With NYAir, I now should be able to download large files, buy or stream movies online, and so forth, without that ever-present concern about running up against “Fair Access Policy” limits. That was basically impossible for me with Hughes, whose service made it basically impossible to watch even half of an HD movie online without paying for $10 “restore” tokens.

The setup was extremely easy once their patient technician found the optimal height and direction to aim the antenna. It’s about 4 feet long but narrow, with flanges protruding about 6 inches, available in silver or black—less obtrusive than my existing Hughes dish. It mounts on a simple post attached to a wall or roof, and then an ethernet line is run into the house.

I chose their Premium plan at $55 per month. That may sound like a lot to some, but it’s far less than the whopping fees I’ve been paying to HughesNet for much worse alleged “business” class service. I’ll recoup the installation cost of $300 with no commitment or $200 for a one-year commitment within just a couple of months after I cancel my month-to-month satellite plan. (I’ll give it a few weeks, to make sure NYAir is really all it’s cracked up to be.)

The Premium plan offers speeds up to 2 Mbps download and 768 kbps upload, which is comparable to or even better than what I’ve obtained from Hughes, and that only with extreme haggling and frequent tech nightmares. (People who have DSL or cable modems will scoff at such speeds, but again I’m stuck in the boonies here, with limited options.) I was able to verify those speed via various online resources on the first try. They also have cheaper plans, but it’s certainly worth an extra $10 per month for double the speed. I can’t see any reason not to go with their Premium option, which is identical to their Business plan.

My technician said that their towers can in theory broadcast to antennas as much as 20 miles away. The issue is rarely whether one is close enough to one of their broadcasters, but whether one can get a line of sight to it. Terrain is the key factor, along with trees. (I may have to do some pruning once the leaves come on.)

It’s only been an hour since I got this, but so far I’m delighted. I will save a ton of money, and not be limited in my usage. It’s possible I’ll discover some major downside to the service, but from what I’ve researched about it, the ease of setup, and the speeds I’m getting out of the box, I’m thrilled thus far.

A couple of tech notes for those who care:

With NYAir you can also, for an extra $10 per month, get a Static IP address.

Their current system operates over 900 Mhz. If they eventually upgrade to WiMax, speeds and coverage should increase. They already offer VOIP, but that is probably not a reliable option until/unless they upgrade to WiMax, from what I’ve gathered.

In theory, service from a WISP should be less susceptible to weather than satellite internet, but fog and rain can have some impact on speeds. I don’t expect, however, to ever completely lose connection with their tower as one sometimes does with satellite.

NYAir has a simple service area map on their site, which shows locations where they have customers already. But it will definitely require a (free) visit to find out for sure whether you can connect with them.

NYAir is a subsidiary or affiliate of Surferz.net, which for many years provided dial-up to local residents. From what I can tell, they are “backhauling” their signal from MHcable’s internet backbone, i.e. paying MHcable for bandwidth which NYAir then broadcasts to their own customers, much as WildBlue buys time on satellites from Hughes.

January 18, 2012

The Albany Times-Unionreports that appointed Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (formerly of Greenport) is siding with Hollywood and music industry lobby groups over, well, pretty much everyone else when it comes to internet censorship. The PIPA and SOPA bills in Congress have inspired numerous sites (from Wikipedia to Boing Boing to Reddit) to go "dark" for the day. More than a passive supporter, Gillibrand actually co-sponsored PIPA in the Senate.

As if to illustrate what such censorship might be like, a reader reports that comments about these bills were being erased from Gillibrand's Facebook page, though now it appears they are coming too fast and furious for monitors to keep up with.

Public outcry has already caused some initial supporters, such as hosting provider Go Daddy, to withdraw support from these measures (which would help rich entertainment businesses eke out a modest improvement in profit, at the expense of free speech). A former attorney for Big Tobacco, Gillibrand has a history of changing her noxious positions if there is enough pressure: she formerly opposed gay marriage, and held anti-immigrant positions such as making English the "official" U.S. language.

But such pressure has rarely come from Hudson Valley Democrats, who have tended to value their personal access to a "local" politician over their own political principles. Will Columbia County Dems hold Kirsten's feet to the fire on this huge issue?

October 5, 2011

So, who is this man? He’s the anchor baby of an activist Arab muslim who came to the U.S. on a student visa and had a child out of wedlock. He’s a non-Christian, arugula-eating, drug-using follower of unabashedly old-fashioned liberal teachings from the hippies and folk music stars of the 60s. And he believes in science, in things that science can demonstrate like climate change and Pi having a value more specific than “3”, and in extending responsible benefits to his employees while encouraging his company to lead by being environmentally responsible.

Every single person who’d attack Steve Jobs on any of these grounds is, demonstrably, worse at business than Jobs. They're unqualified to assert that liberal values are bad for business, when the demonstrable, factual, obvious evidence contradicts those assertions.

It’s a choice whether you, or anyone else, wants to accept the falsehood that liberal values are somehow in contradiction with business success at a global scale. Indeed, it would seem that many who claim to be pro-business are trying to “save” us from exactly the inclusive, creative, tolerant values that have made America's most successful company possible. I side with the makers, the creators, and the inventors, and it's about time that the pack of clamoring would-be politicians be put on the defensive for attacking the values of those of us on this side.

July 22, 2011

BetaBeat, a tech journal published online by The New York Observer, reports that Etsy CEO Rob Kalin is stepping down. Kalin is known locally as the driving force behind Etsy’s decision to open a customer service center in Hudson, but from the sound of things this shouldn’t have any effect on the expected 50 or so jobs being created there. A source tells me that six new hires were made there just recently, and are looking to find another 5-10 people by September.

August 22, 2010

For my own convenience (and to brush up some mobile design skills), I created a simple app for my iPhone which lets me quickly check the headlines on a variety of Hudson blogs.

I started with Carole Osterink’s Gossips of Rivertown, Trixie Starr’s Gay Hudson, Scott Baldinger’s GoToHudson, Lisa Durfee’s Tainted Lady Lounge, John Farley’s The12534, and my own site. The widget lets you click on an item to go to the blogger’s full site, if you want to read more than the headline and an excerpt.

... and then click on the "+" button on the phone’s web browser to turn it into a Home Screen “app,” or else bookmark the link. It should also work on Android, but I haven’t tried it yet.

The blogs selected are those most focused on Hudson which I check most regularly... I’ve not included commercial sites, political party blogs, and less frequently-updated sites, but the sky’s the limit here, and I’m open to suggested additions (while aiming to keep the clutter down).

Give it a try and let me know if it works, ye mobile-heads. I'm still tweaking things a bit, but it’s ready for beta-testing. Feedback encouraged using the comments link below... If people find this useful, I’ll also make one for Columbia County blogs, Hudson Valley news headlines, and the like. And for now, it’s got some ads from Widgetbox, as I’ve not sprung for a Pro account yet.

June 9, 2010

The iPhone 3GS has almost completely replaced both my laptop and my digital camera (neither of which leaves the house much anymore). It gives me the ability to read and send email, update this blog, shoot and edit photos, record video and audio, take notes, read books, check Facebook and Twitter, surf the web, watch movies and baseball games, play Scrabble, and dozens of other favorite things. Plus it syncs seamlessly with my office and home computers. The only key task it doesn’t address is typesetting and page layout; but no doubt that, tool will come.

With the addition of a black Case-Mate cover, the iPhone also serves as my wallet. I used to tote around all kinds of gear (laptop, camera, phone, chargers, cables, wallet, notebooks). Now I carry one incredibly compact device in my pocket, plus my keys. That’s it: travel light.

So count me among those “fanboys” who most definitely will upgrade to the iPhone 4 as soon as it’s in stores. The new features are worth it: a much higher-resolution screen, better antennas, a slimmer phone, HD video editing, an LED flash for the upgraded main camera—not to mention the addition of a forward-facing lens for video conferencing—and more. Tip: You can check your upgrade eligibility by dialing *639#.

Some people love to hate Apple, but frankly I think that’s moronic. My life is easier, better, less complicated thanks to Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive forcing the computer (and indeed the entire tech) world to constantly play catch-up. They’re among the very few people atop our mass commercial culture who have truly advanced design and usability, and delivered it to a broad audience. As kids, we were shown a future full of ubiquitous monorails and jetpacks and Star Trek communicators; the iPhone is the only device I use which seems truly Space Age.

Yeah, I loathe being forced to patronize AT&T... and wish Apple would get some of its production out of China. But the same goes for Verizon and the rest of the carriers and phone makers, so I’m pretty much boxed in. If I could move to a carrier like CREDO, I would in an instant. Eventually, no doubt that will be possible.

April 27, 2010

So I finally saw an iPad today. It was both smaller and heavier than expected.

"Nice screen" is about the most positive thing I could say about it. Unlike most newly-launched Apple products, it didn't make me want to get one in any hurry. The touchscreen keyboard felt awkward at first, though probably that feeling would go away with more use. The apps didn't seem powerful enough to allow me to eliminate the need for the laptop for real work at home or on the road.

When out and about, the iPhone already serves as a more-than-adequate solution for checking email, updating sites, reading news, and other more mundane applications, without having to lug around a lot of gear. (With a Casemate cover, it also doubles as my wallet.) For watching movies to pass the time while traveling—which seems to be the main thing for which most people will use the iPad—an iPhone a foot from your face is really not that different from a 50-inch television across the room.

Keeping track of three devices is plenty. I really don't want four devices to sync, charge and update—the iMacf at the office, the iBook at home, the iPhone on the road, and then an iPad... for some other functions. Since it can't replace one of the other devices, it’s not a priority or even a luxury purchase.

Plus, this website you're looking at right now didn't load properly, and I don't think that was Typepad's fault. Maybe I'll reconsider when the second generation comes out, if it evolves into more of a laptop substitute.

January 27, 2010

Little Steven looks positively tiny next to that iPhone ... At right, see him shrink even more. Shortly after this picture was taken, he collapsed to the size of a pushpin and fell through a vent in the stage, never to be seen again.

(OK, so you can go to GDGT.com to see photos of the Jobs presentation of the iPad. Presumably Apple will post the entire video shortly. Also, if you scroll down on the Specs page, it’s worth checking out the several keyboard and case options, which allay some of my concerns about regular writing on the device, or just trying to stand the thing up while watching a movie lying down.)

January 26, 2010

What will Steve Jobs name the endlessly-anticipated product which Apple will launch tomorrow (January 27th)? Based on the design of the invitation, iSplat is my contribution to the guessing game. More serious contenders are iPad, iSlate, iTab(let), iPal(ette), iCan(vas), &c.